Free Thought Lives

Author: Coltan Scrivner

There will always exist a tension between the freedom of the individual to say and do as they please and the freedom of the individual to be protected from harm. Over the past few years, colleges campuses around the world, but particularly in the United States, have struggled to reconcile these two protections, particularly in light of diversity and inclusion agendas. Finding the line between freedom of speech (or freedom of expression, which may be used interchangeably in this piece) and freedom from harm relies heavily on how we understand and define the two concepts. While the First Amendment to the US Constitution applies to citizens’ rights in relation to their government, it serves as a good starting point for a working definition of free speech. The First Amendment as we know it today is a concise revision of an original draft by James Madison. The part of the original draft that refers to free speech (including assembly and press), reads: The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to …

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